New Luke Cage Images: Welcome to Harlem

Since Netflix debuted a Daredevilseries last year to much critical acclaim, the streaming-turned-production company has set its sights on even more Marvel titles. They released Jessica Joneslate last year to even more commendation, especially for their thoughtful representations of a female protagonist (Jones) and a black superhero (Luke Cage). So, it’s no surprise that Netflix and Marvel took the idea of a Luke Cagesolo series and ran with it. The series, which focuses on Cage as he returns to Harlem in an attempt to lie low and figure out his superpowered life, hits small screens in a matter of days, and until then, we’ve been excitedly reporting on all the new Luke Cage material we can find.

Though many of the stills focus on Cage in action, some shine a spotlight on the show’s villains, like Mariah Dillard (played by Alfre Woodard), a local politician with an enigmatic backstory, and Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes (Mahershala Ali), Dillard’s cousin and a nightclub owner who plays an antagonist with mobster-like swagger. Check out images of Dillard and Stokes, along with the rest of the Luke Cage cast, in the following image gallery:

In these images, we even get to see a bit of confrontation between Cage and Cottonmouth, though that’s nothing compared to some of these other shots of Luke Cage in action. Luke Cage wears his signature jacket and hoodie in, the latter of which he recently acknowledged is a tribute to Trayvon Martin, in most of these images, though there’s one notable shot where our hero manages to look powerful in business casual.

While it’s cool to see our hero in action and see a bit more of Harlem, it’s the images of Cage interacting with others peacefully that tell us more about his character. These images also feature Cage hanging out with friends and conversing at work. Plus we get to see some awesome shots of Misty Knight (Simone Missick). You can tell that Harlem and its inhabitants are some of the real storytellers in this series.

It’s great to see more of Pop, Cage’s father figure who owns the barber shop where Cage works, and we love these shots of Knight, where Simone Missick looks absolutely radiant. Though these stills might not totally tide us over until we can finally binge-watch the entire season, it’s always great to learn more about Luke Cage, and speculation is half the fun! If you have any theories for where/when these images take place, and why, definitely let us know in the comments.

Daredevil season 1 & 2 and Jessica Jones season 1 are now available on Netflix. Luke Cage season 1 will arrive on September 30th, 2016. The Defenders and Iron Fist arrive in 2017. Release dates for Jessica Jones season 2, The Punisher and Daredevil season 3 have not yet been announced.